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Columbia University
Tim Wu is a professor of law at Columbia University and the author of The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires and The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads.
PROFILE
Tim Wu
Guest
FROM Tim Wu
To the Point
Was United's PR disaster caused by a mega-merger? United Airlines is now doing international damage control over its forced removal of a passenger from an overbooked flight. Though his name has not been released them man complained on video of being singled out because he was Chinese. Now, the hashtag "United forcibly removes passenger from plane" is the most popular topic on China's equivalent of Twitter. Public relations experts have expressed shock at United's response to the disaster. One person who may not be shocked is Columbia law professor Tim Wu, who wrote about United's customer service problems back in 2014 for the New Yorker .
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
'Attention merchants' scramble for our attention (and money) Advertisers have tried to get our attention in myriad ways and have increasingly entered our private lives. Tim Wu writes about the history of the “attention merchants,” from snake oil salesmen at 19th century county fairs to today’s Instagram stars. His book is The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads.
To the Point
Court OK's "Net Neutrality" Treating Internet as a Utility Today a federal court upheld so-called Open Internet rules, also called "net neutrality." Two years ago, John Oliver of HBO's Last Week offered a clear explanation of what that means. For a more sober account today's decision, we turn to Brendan Sasso, who covers technology for National Journal , and Columbia University law professor Tim Wu, who coined the phrase "net neutrality" and is the author of The Master Switch .
To the Point
Can Facebook Go Public and Change the World? When Facebook goes public, it's expected to be the biggest initial public offering (IPO) in Silicon Valley history, possibly raising $10 billion on a value of $100 billion. Founder Mark Zuckerberg says, "We don't build services to make money, we make money to build better services." What will that mean to potential investors — especially when Zuckerberg, age 27 — will retain almost total control? Will becoming a publicly traded company necessarily change his style? How will he deal with government oversight, especially overseas? As he sells the personal data of 800 million "friends," will they all stay comfortable or raise more questions about violations of privacy?
To the Point
Egypt, the Internet and Political Change Another enormous crowd turned out in Tahrir Square today, celebrating Google executive Wael Ghonim, who says he created a crucial Facebook page last June. It was dedicated to a victim of police brutality, and encouraged Internet users to share their anger. Now it's credited with starting the protests we see today. But is the Internet necessarily an instrument of democracy? Can it also be used by authoritarian regimes to enforce the status quo? We hear more about its role in Egypt, and how it's used in Iran and China. How is it regulated in the US? Should the government have a "kill switch," just in case?
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To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
To the Point
Venezuela spirals into economic and political chaos Venezuela, a country whose potential for prosperity is unmatched, finds itself on the verge of civil war. What sustains the repressive government? With time running out, guest host León Krauze looks at what the international community can do to pull the country from the edge of collapse.
To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.